Govt lacks full data on forest concessions

Govt lacks full data on forest concessions

JAKARTA (JP): The government admitted yesterday it still lacks
reliable data on the ownership and operations of the country's
timber companies, which are often blamed for causing forest fires
and damaging the environment.

Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin Nasution,
appointed minister only last month, said that even he and the
ministry's senior officials are unclear about the ownership of
the forest concessions because data left by his predecessor only
showed the names of the operating timber companies.

"The current data only shows the names of the companies but
not their owners' names. The data should be reviewed by adding
the names of the people behind those companies," he said.

"It will, therefore, take more time to detect whether they are
involved in KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) practices,"
he said when asked about his recent promise to review timber
companies' contracts, particularly those involved in illegitimate
practices such as obtaining logging contracts due to their close
relations with former president Soeharto and his cronies.

Muslimin said the ministry was compiling data on names and
operations of all forest concession holders in the country.

"God willing, the names of all forests concessionaires will be
collected and announced transparently to the public in two
weeks," he promised.

Timber and plantation companies are often criticized for their
lack of attention to protecting the environment and also often
blamed for causing forest fires.

Muslimin said strict punishments would be imposed on timber
companies found to have violated the sustainable forest
management regulations or caused forest fires.

"The management of those disobedient concessions can be handed
over to state timber companies and cooperatives or offered to the
public through an open bidding system," he said.

In the future his ministry will employ an open bidding system
in issuing concession contracts to ensure that only those with a
strong commitment to protecting the forest, environment and local
people win the contracts.

Former environment minister Emil Salim suggested yesterday
that concession rights be given only to companies which could
offer the most benefits to local people and the state, such as
through contributions of resource rent tax to be used for the
reforestation purposes.

Their offers should be made through "transparent and open
public bidding", Emil told participants at a discussion on forest
concessions held by Atma Jaya University here.

Emil said bidding to select companies entitled to get the
concession rights was a way to return to the power of market
mechanisms lost to the power of the government.

However, he said the resource rent tax and the reforestation
fund should be used for replanting only and that the fund must be
embodied into the state budget to ensure the accountability of
its use.

Another needed measure was to seriously implement a nationwide
spatial master plan to ensure proper use of land and forests,
Emil said.

"The question to ask in this case for instance is: what will
be the face of East Kalimantan in 2020? How much land is being
allocated for industry, plantations, agriculture, even for
protecting species, etcetera? So the competing uses of the forest
must be settled first through master planning.

"We can't dedicate all our forest for concessions," Emil said.

The government first began to award forest concessions to
private companies through the 1971 Forestry Law, which granted
concessionaires the sole right to exploit and cultivate forests
in their concession area.

There are currently 437 forest concessions in the country.

Private concessions -- which cover more than 61 million
hectares of forest -- are mostly in the hands of 50 leading
groups, including Kalimanis Group owned by Mohammad "Bob" Hasan,
Barito Pacific Timber owned by Prajogo Pangestu, Sujono
Varinata's Djajanti Group, PT Alas Kesuma owned by Handjaja and
Nana Suparna and Mercu Buana Group owned by Probosutedjo,
Soeharto's half-brother.

Informed sources say most of the forest concessions owned by
the 50 leading groups are partly owned by Soeharto's family and
their cronies such as Bob Hasan and Prajogo Pangestu. (gis/aan)